Vayniacs Crushed as Gary Vee Retires from Wine Videos

Local oenophile, investor and The Daily contributor Gary Vaynerchuk announced today he’s retiring after five and a half years of producing “the most! passionate! wine program!” on the internet and the one that launched his career as an author and social media expert.

“It was never in the cards for me to spend my entire career being a ‘wine critic,'” he said, marking the title with air quotes. “But wine will always be a massive part of my life … will I come out with a wine brand one day? Maybe.”

He doesn’t know where he’s going next.

“I just feel ready. I have a lot of ambition in life and there’s a lot of things I want to accomplish,” he said.

Mr. Vaynerchuk retired from Wine Library a few months ago, and has been producing daily wine videos at Daily Grape. But it was a false start, and making daily videos was taking a toll on even the insanely-energetic Mr. Vaynerchuk.

“I know this is disappointing for a lot of people,” Mr. Vaynerchuk said to the camera. “I know some of you just discovered me. I know that for a lot of you I’ve beena part of your day-to-day life, like you literally come home and you watch the show. That’s a big deal to me. That’s something that I take very seriously and I feel selfish. A part of me feels like I’m letting you down. It does, and I hate that. But it never felt more right to move on and see what else is out there for me.”

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